Metacom Day, also known as Remembrance Day in Wampanoag communities, was celebrated with a workshop and panel discussion at the Stillpoint in West Tisbury on Tuesday afternoon. The event, hosted by the Aquinnah Cultural Center aimed to shed light on the historical misrepresentation of the Wampanoag people and the ongoing impacts of King Philip’s War, also known as the War for the Dawnland (1675-1678). Speakers at the educational institution retold the story and educated the community about its influence and impacts through the raw perspective of Wampanoag citizens.
Metacom Day, observed on Aug. 12, commemorates the life and legacy of Metacom, also known as King Philip, the Wampanoag sachem who led the Indigenous tribes in King Philip’s war against the English colonists. The date marks the anniversary of Metacom’s death, and was considered to be a turning point marking the near end of the war.
Moderated by Tobias Vanderhoop from the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah), the panel featured Linda Coombs from the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah), Dr. Mary Amanda McNeil from Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe, and David Weeden from the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe.
Brad Lopes, a citizen of the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) and manager of the Native American Teacher Retention Initiative program manager for Mashpee Wampanoags, explained in an interview with the Martha’s Vineyard Times that the discussion aimed to reframe the narrative of the war.
“We want to look at how that war really happened, things going on beforehand that kind of lead up to it, and then the effects on the Wampanoag community all the way up to today,” said Lopes. “We wanted to tell it from our perspective.”
Lopes emphasised the importance of understanding the Wampanoag perspectives, which are historically often overshadowed by colonial accounts. He emphasized the ongoing challenges that Wampanoag communities still are facing today, such as their right to tribal sovereignty.
“I think it’s really important because those things are still impacting Indigenous communities today,” said Lopes. ”All of us are still kind of in this experience of living in a time period that’s impacted by that war. Our sovereignty isn’t seen as equal to the United States or the State of Massachusetts, and some people honestly don’t even think we’re still here. Just being able to kind of disrupt those narratives, I think, is really important.”
While English records claim the Islands Wampanoag did not participate in the war, Lopes says it’s possible kinship networks possibly drew individuals to the mainland conflict.
“Colonial officials at that time period in our community in Gay Head didn’t want you guys [Wampanoag communities] going over to the mainland and joining Philip, so they threatened to send a colonial militia down to patrol the community,” said Lopes. “When the colonists look at it, they see it as almost being as a community but I think it’s really hard for them to understand whether or not individuals from that community went off and fought.”
The war’s aftermath forced many Wampanoags into slavery, indentured servitude, or deportation with pressure to adopt English language and customs, said Lopes.
“It was a hard pivot in English-Algonquian relations,” Lopes said. “Also land loss, you know, just a radical amount of land loss, like you’re talking about, you know, at least 90%, if not 99% of Wampanoag homelands dispossessed of Wampanoag people. You’re talking about a nation that went from at least 69 different communities that we know of to actually only about give or take 14 after the war and so a radical decimation of our people.”
Lopes hoped the event would inspire action towards reconciliation.
“I think there’s lots of things we can do towards reconciliation, towards decolonization, towards just better relations between tribal nations and non-tribal people,” said Lopes. “I really hope that people walk away feeling empowered to take action in their life and support tribal communities and our sovereignty, because we truly have to find a way to live here together, you know, and I think we’ve been struggling on that for 300-plus years.”
Thank you for attending and for sharing this. I would like to add and make clear that the Aquinnah Cultural Center organized this event with support from the Harvard University Native American Program and StillPoint.